I agree, I thought it was crap. People praise it for having this great twist ending but giving you nothing for the whole movie then just explaining the entire story at the end is not a twist. They really could have said anything at that point, even that it was all a game set up by Jigsaw from the Saw series.

Sure, throw a bunch of nonsense at an audience and then add a "twist" ending. I still have yet to watch the film all the way to the end but I assume the "twist" ending also made as little sense as the rest of the film.

@MongoLloyd said:

Sure, throw a bunch of nonsense at an audience and then add a "twist" ending. I still have yet to watch the film all the way to the end but I assume the "twist" ending also made as little sense as the rest of the film.

Dood,

I think you should at least watch the film all the way to its finish before harshly criticizing it like you did. The explanatory part of the film that you guys are referring to does a lot to clarify its events for the viewer. It's like you owe yourself that much, to complete watching the film, or else you are cheating yourself.

No, he won't. If he didnt appreciate what he saw he won't suddenly appreciate it no matter how much you want him to like it.

@Satch_the_man said:

@MongoLloyd said:

Sure, throw a bunch of nonsense at an audience and then add a "twist" ending. I still have yet to watch the film all the way to the end but I assume the "twist" ending also made as little sense as the rest of the film.

Dood,

I think you should at least watch the film all the way to its finish before harshly criticizing it like you did. The explanatory part of the film that you guys are referring to does a lot to clarify its events for the viewer. It's like you owe yourself that much, to complete watching the film, or else you are cheating yourself.

I watched about half and I can tell lazy screenwriting when I see it. No thanks.

I have to disagree. Oldboy is one of my all time favorite movies. The "twist" is interesting and very poignant but there's a lot more to it than that. A masterpiece in my opinion.

Well, I watched it and it's even dumber than I could have imagined. There are no words.

Spoilers ahead...

Let me know if I have it right:

A school age boy sees another boy fooling around with his own sister, starts rumor that he had sex with her. The girl believes the rumor so much that she becomes pregnant and the shame of it all makes her commit suicide.

[incest, how edgy]

Many years later, the brother of the deceased girl is super rich [and apparently barely aged in all that time] and decides to kidnap the guy who spread the rumor and hold him captive for 15 years.

[held in a facility where people are routinely held captive, what?!]

The captive is released and is fooled into having a relationship and subsequently sex with his adult daughter.

[incest, how edgy]

Former captive cuts his tongue out and begs super rich guy not to let daughter to know the truth, super rich guy commits suicide, then former captive gets hypnosis so he can forget that he had sex with his daughter.

[it's as if the storyline was conjured up by a pair of high school sophomores high on weed - what utter nonsensical garbage]

@MongoLloyd said:

Well, I watched it and it's even dumber than I could have imagined. There are no words.

Spoilers ahead...

Let me know if I have it right:

A school age boy sees another boy fooling around with his own sister, starts rumor that he had sex with her. The girl believes the rumor so much that she becomes pregnant and the shame of it all makes her commit suicide.

[incest, how edgy]

Many years later, the brother of the deceased girl is super rich [and apparently barely aged in all that time] and decides to kidnap the guy who spread the rumor and hold him captive for 15 years.

[held in a facility where people are routinely held captive, what?!]

The captive is released and is fooled into having a relationship and subsequently sex with his adult daughter.

[incest, how edgy]

Former captive cuts his tongue out and begs super rich guy not to let daughter to know the truth, super rich guy commits suicide, then former captive gets hypnosis so he can forget that he had sex with his daughter.

[it's as if the storyline was conjured up by a pair of high school sophomores high on weed - what utter nonsensical garbage]

The incest thing (edgy lol) is really not too common in movies so it really is somewhat edgy. Yes the chain of events has some unrealistic elements like the facility devoted to housing captives but there could actually be places like that. Who knows? Unreal-ism is a VERY widely used trope in movies.

The incest thing to me is a crutch, to be honest. Not to mention cringey as f( `)ck. It's what filmmakers do when they want to stand out and don't have a legitimately good plot.

Unrealism? Yeah, ok, it's obviously a fantasy genre we're looking at here which is fine if you're into it.

You could pretty much say any plot device is a crutch if saying an integral part of the story is a crutch. Also, I'm pretty sure it was intended to be "cringey". I wouldn't necessarily put it in the "fantasy" genera. You touched on it though. "If you're into it". Oldboy is HIGHLY regarded by fans and critics alike who are obviously "into it". You're not which is fine.

SPOILERS

@chilone said:

@MongoLloyd said:

Well, I watched it and it's even dumber than I could have imagined. There are no words.

Spoilers ahead...

Let me know if I have it right:

A school age boy sees another boy fooling around with his own sister, starts rumor that he had sex with her. The girl believes the rumor so much that she becomes pregnant and the shame of it all makes her commit suicide.

[incest, how edgy]

Many years later, the brother of the deceased girl is super rich [and apparently barely aged in all that time] and decides to kidnap the guy who spread the rumor and hold him captive for 15 years.

[held in a facility where people are routinely held captive, what?!]

The captive is released and is fooled into having a relationship and subsequently sex with his adult daughter.

[incest, how edgy]

Former captive cuts his tongue out and begs super rich guy not to let daughter to know the truth, super rich guy commits suicide, then former captive gets hypnosis so he can forget that he had sex with his daughter.

[it's as if the storyline was conjured up by a pair of high school sophomores high on weed - what utter nonsensical garbage]

The incest thing (edgy lol) is really not too common in movies so it really is somewhat edgy. Yes the chain of events has some unrealistic elements like the facility devoted to housing captives but there could actually be places like that. Who knows? Unreal-ism is a VERY widely used trope in movies.

The protagonist, Dae-su saw Woo-jin having incest with his own sister and told their classmates about it. The shame caused by this brings Woo-jin's sister to kill herself. Woo-jin thusly hates Dae-su and decides to take revenge upon him.

@Satch_the_man said:

The protagonist, Dae-su saw Woo-jin having incest with his own sister and told their classmates about it. The shame caused by this brings Woo-jin's sister to kill herself. Woo-jin thusly hates Dae-su and decides to take revenge upon him.

Yeah, that's what I said. Dumb.

@MongoLloyd said:

@Satch_the_man said:

The protagonist, Dae-su saw Woo-jin having incest with his own sister and told their classmates about it. The shame caused by this brings Woo-jin's sister to kill herself. Woo-jin thusly hates Dae-su and decides to take revenge upon him.

Yeah, that's what I said. Dumb.

Why exactly is that dumb? And dumb compared to what? Give us an example.

@MongoLloyd said:

The whole thing feels like they were just making it up as they went along and nothing makes sense.

The movie is Korean. They're almost always a bit over the top and unrealistic. Have you seen more of Chan-wook Park's movies? I recommend "Sympathy for Mr Vengeance". Just to get an idea.

This is why Hollywood's pathetic attempt to remake Old Boy failed miserably because they took something that was already great, and in their arrogance wanted to make better by overdoing the fighting scenes, changed the plot to not upset the majority of the audience (here's that awful PC abbreviation again) and basically turned it into a hackjob.

@diadara said:

@MongoLloyd said:

The whole thing feels like they were just making it up as they went along and nothing makes sense.

The movie is Korean. They're almost always a bit over the top and unrealistic. Have you seen more of Chan-wook Park's movies? I recommend "Sympathy for Mr Vengeance". Just to get an idea.

This is why Hollywood's pathetic attempt to remake Old Boy failed miserably because they took something that was already great, and in their arrogance wanted to make better by overdoing the fighting scenes, changed the plot to not upset the majority of the audience (here's that awful PC abbreviation again) and basically turned it into a hackjob.

I agree for the most part. The US remake pales in comparison however I think the US ending was actually more "Korean". Way more bleak than the original.